Harold & Maude Go to White Castle

[Verse 1] Harold hanged himself again this morning Just to see if anybody cared His mother sipped her sherry through the choking Didn't even muss her lacquered hair Then a horn honked from a stolen convertible Maude behind the wheel, seventy-nine and wild Said "Kid, put down the noose and grab your jacket — Tonight we're gonna drive a hundred miles" [Pre-Chorus] The tank's half full, the moon's a greasy nickel The highway hums a song we half-remember There's a little white place glowing up ahead And the night is soft as ember [Chorus] Harold and Maude go to White Castle Death in the rearview, joy in the passenger seat She's got a daisy tucked behind her ear And a sack of something steaming sweet Harold and Maude go to White Castle Where the neon paints the blacktop gold She's teaching him the only thing worth learning — How to live before you're old [Verse 2] She stole the car from a man who wouldn't miss it Said "Property's a sin against the soul" Harold smiled for the first time since October Felt the engine swallow up the cold NPH came stumbling from a rest stop Climbed right in without a how-do-you-do Said "I know a shortcut through the cornfields — Hand me that joint and I'll get us through" [Pre-Chorus 2] The tank's near empty, the stars are cracked and spilling The radio's singing songs our grandmas knew There's a little white place glowing up ahead And the world's almost new [Chorus] Harold and Maude go to White Castle Death in the rearview, joy in the passenger seat She's got a daisy tucked behind her ear And a sack of something steaming sweet Harold and Maude go to White Castle Where the neon paints the blacktop gold She's teaching him the only thing worth learning — How to live before you're old [Bridge] They danced in the parking lot at four a.m. To a song that wasn't playing anywhere She spun him 'til his tie came loose and flapping And the grease was holy in the air She said "Harold, every ending is a doorway — Every last breath is the first of something new Don't you waste a single sunrise mourning — Promise me you'll live the whole way through" [Final Chorus] Harold and Maude go to White Castle Death in the rearview, gone from the passenger seat Just a daisy on the dashboard, slightly wilted And a half-warm sack of something sweet Harold drives alone now to White Castle Where the neon paints the blacktop gold He can hear her laughing in the engine — Live, Harold. Live before you're old. [Outro — spoken, warm and weathered] Live, Harold. Live.